ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Murray Gell-Mann - Physicist
Murray Gell-Mann brings visibility to a crucial aspect of our existence that we can't actually see: elemental particles. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing quarks, one of two fundamental ingredients for all matter in the universe.

Why you should listen

He's been called "the man with five brains" -- and Murray Gell-Mann has the resume to prove it. In addition to being a Nobel laureate, he is an accomplished physicist who's earned numerous awards, medals and honorary degrees for his work with subatomic particles, including the groundbreaking theory that the nucleus of an atom comprises 100 or so fundamental building blocks called quarks.

Gell-Mann's influence extends well beyond his field: He's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the board of the Wildlife Conservation Society and is a director of Encyclopedia Britannica. Gell-Mann, a professor emeritus of Caltech, now heads the evolution of human languages program at the Santa Fe Institute, which he cofounded in 1984.

A prolific writer -- he's penned scores of academic papers and several books, including The Quark and the Jaguar -- Gell-Mann is also the subject of the popular science biography Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics.

More profile about the speaker
Murray Gell-Mann | Speaker | TED.com
TED2007

Murray Gell-Mann: The ancestor of language

Murray Gell-Mann om sprogets herkomst

Filmed:
944,446 views

Efter at have talt om fysikkens elegance ved TED2007, giver den fantastiske Murray Gell-Mann os et hurtigt overblik over en anden kær interesse: At finde vores moderne sprogs herkomst.
- Physicist
Murray Gell-Mann brings visibility to a crucial aspect of our existence that we can't actually see: elemental particles. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing quarks, one of two fundamental ingredients for all matter in the universe. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:13
Well, I'm involvedinvolveret in other things, besidesudover physicsfysik.
0
1000
4000
Jeg involverer mig i andre ting end fysik.
00:17
In factfaktum, mostlyfor det meste now in other things.
1
5000
2000
Lige nu mere i andre ting, faktisk.
00:19
One thing is distantfjern relationshipsrelationer amongblandt humanhuman languagesSprog.
2
7000
4000
Én ting er fjerne forbindelser mellem menneskesprog.
00:24
And the professionalprofessionel, historicalhistorisk linguistslingvister in the U.S.
3
12000
4000
Og de professionelle, historiske lingvister i USA
00:28
and in WesternWestern EuropeEuropa mostlyfor det meste try to stayBliv away
4
16000
3000
og i Vesteuropa prøver som regel at holde sig væk
00:31
from any long-distancelang distance relationshipsrelationer, bigstor groupingsgrupperinger,
5
19000
4000
fra fjerne forbindelser; store grupperinger,
00:35
groupingsgrupperinger that go back a long time,
6
23000
3000
grupperinger som går lang tid tilbage,
00:38
longerlængere than the familiarvelkendt familiesfamilier.
7
26000
3000
længere end de velkendte familier.
00:41
They don't like that. They think it's crankkrank. I don't think it's crankkrank.
8
29000
4000
Det kan de ikke lide; de synes det er søgt. Jeg synes ikke det er søgt.
00:45
And there are some brilliantstrålende linguistslingvister, mostlyfor det meste RussiansRusserne,
9
33000
3000
Og der findes nogle dygtige lingvister, mest russere,
00:48
who are workingarbejder on that, at SantaSanta FeFe InstituteInstitut and in MoscowMoskva,
10
36000
4000
som arbejder med dette på Santa Fe Intistuttet og i Moskva,
00:52
and I would love to see where that leadskundeemner.
11
40000
4000
og jeg glæder mig til at se, hvad det fører til.
00:56
Does it really leadat føre to a singleenkelt ancestorforfader
12
44000
3000
Fører det virkelig til én enkelt forfar,
00:59
some 20, 25,000 yearsflere år agosiden?
13
47000
3000
der eksisterede for 20-25.000 år siden?
01:02
And what if we go back beyondud over that singleenkelt ancestorforfader,
14
50000
3000
Og hvad hvis vi går endnu længere tilbage end den ene forfar,
01:05
when there was presumablyformentlig a competitionkonkurrence amongblandt manymange languagesSprog?
15
53000
4000
hvor der sandsynligvis har været konkurrence mellem mange sprog?
01:09
How farlangt back does that go? How farlangt back does modernmoderne languageSprog go?
16
57000
3000
Hvor lang tid skal vi så tilbage? Hvor langt går moderne sprog tilbage?
01:13
How manymange tenstiere of thousandstusinder of yearsflere år does it go back?
17
61000
3000
Hvor mange titusinder af år går sproget tilbage?
01:16
ChrisChris AndersonAnderson: Do you have a hunchfornemmelse or a hopehåber for what the answersvar to that is?
18
64000
3000
Chris Anderson: Har du en anelse eller forhåbning for, hvad svaret er?
01:19
MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann: Well, I would guessgætte that modernmoderne languageSprog mustskal be olderældre
19
67000
3000
Murray Gell-Mann: Tja, jeg vil tro at moderne sprog må være ældre
01:22
than the caveCave paintingsmalerier and caveCave engravingskobberstik and caveCave sculpturesskulpturer
20
70000
4000
end huletegninger, huleindgraveringer og huleskulpturer
01:26
and dancedans stepstrin in the softblød clayler in the caveshuler in WesternWestern EuropeEuropa,
21
74000
5000
og sporene af dansetrin i den bløde ler i hulerne i Vesteuropa
01:31
in the AurignacianNasiske PeriodPeriode some 35,000 yearsflere år agosiden, or earliertidligere.
22
79000
6000
fra Aurignacienperioden for cirka 35.000 år siden, eller endnu før.
01:37
I can't believe they did all those things and didn't alsoogså have a modernmoderne languageSprog.
23
85000
3000
Jeg kan ikke tro, at de gjorde alle disse ting uden også at have et moderne sprog.
01:40
So, I would guessgætte that the actualfaktiske originoprindelse goesgår back at leastmindst that farlangt and maybe furtheryderligere.
24
88000
5000
Så jeg gætter på, at den faktiske oprindelse går mindst så langt tilbage, måske længere.
01:45
But that doesn't mean that all, or manymange, or mostmest
25
93000
3000
Men det betyder ikke at alle, eller mange af, eller de fleste
01:48
of today'sdagens attestederhvervsområde languagesSprog couldn'tkunne ikke descendned perhapsmåske
26
96000
4000
af nutidens talte sprog ikke kan nedstamme
01:52
from one that's much youngeryngre than that, like say 20,000 yearsflere år,
27
100000
4000
fra en forfar meget yngre end det, eksempelvis 20.000 år,
01:56
or something of that kindvenlig. It's what we call a bottleneckflaskehals.
28
104000
3000
eller noget i den stil. Det er dét, vi kalder en flaskehals.
02:00
CACA: Well, PhilipPhilip AndersonAnderson maykan have been right.
29
108000
1000
Chris Anderson: Philip Anderson har nok haft ret.
02:01
You maykan just know more about everything than anyonenogen som helst.
30
109000
3000
Du ved nok mere om alt end nogen andre.
02:04
So, it's been an honorære. Thank you MurrayMurray Gell-MannGell-Mann.
31
112000
2000
Så det har været en ære. Tak skal du have, Murray Gell-Mann.
02:06
(ApplauseBifald)
32
114000
4000
(Klapsalve)
Translated by Louise Frilund Petersen
Reviewed by Solveig Vendelbo

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Murray Gell-Mann - Physicist
Murray Gell-Mann brings visibility to a crucial aspect of our existence that we can't actually see: elemental particles. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing quarks, one of two fundamental ingredients for all matter in the universe.

Why you should listen

He's been called "the man with five brains" -- and Murray Gell-Mann has the resume to prove it. In addition to being a Nobel laureate, he is an accomplished physicist who's earned numerous awards, medals and honorary degrees for his work with subatomic particles, including the groundbreaking theory that the nucleus of an atom comprises 100 or so fundamental building blocks called quarks.

Gell-Mann's influence extends well beyond his field: He's a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also serves on the board of the Wildlife Conservation Society and is a director of Encyclopedia Britannica. Gell-Mann, a professor emeritus of Caltech, now heads the evolution of human languages program at the Santa Fe Institute, which he cofounded in 1984.

A prolific writer -- he's penned scores of academic papers and several books, including The Quark and the Jaguar -- Gell-Mann is also the subject of the popular science biography Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in 20th-Century Physics.

More profile about the speaker
Murray Gell-Mann | Speaker | TED.com